“You cannot employ lesser qualified people instead of GPs. They cannot be replaced. The country is not stupid.”

Sunak replied saying his father was a GP and his mother was a pharmacist.

The prime minister has said he understands if Conservative voters criticise his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early. “I understand that. And that’s why I apologised this morning. I’ve got enormous respect and gratitude to all veterans, particularly those who risked their lives eighty years ago to defend our country, our freedoms, our values,” Sunak said.

Asked whether he would apologise to veterans, Sunak would only say: “I have the great privilege and pleasure of speaking to many veterans, and I’m sure I will continue to over the course of this campaign and beyond.”

Northern Ireland’s first minister has been criticised for not attending yesterday’s international ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day (George Sandeman writes).

Michelle O’Neill, vice-president of Sinn Fein and the first Irish nationalist to hold the office, was said to have missed an opportunity to show that she was first minister for all in the nation.

Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said: “I am glad our deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly was in Normandy this week to represent Northern Ireland alongside the first ministers of Scotland and Wales.

“With men from across the island being remembered, I am disappointed that the deputy first minister was alone in Normandy and the other half of the joint [executive office] was absent. When we consider how so many from this island have only been able to openly remember their grandparents’ war efforts in recent years, this was a missed opportunity for leadership and reconciliation.”

He added: “A first minister for all would have paid tribute to the D-Day veterans.”

The former chief executive of BP has called for an end to new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, a position that matches Labour’s policy on fossil fuels (George Sandeman writes).

Lord Browne of Madingley, who ran the oil company from 1995 to 2007, said the UK would need to keep using oil and gas for many years to come and that drilling in existing fields should continue. “But beyond this, we should call a halt,” he wrote in the Financial Times. “Such a move will reinforce our intention to get to net zero.”

He argued that developing the final “very limited” oil and gas resources left in the North Sea would make little difference to energy prices or the country’s energy security.

A key test in this election was whether the major parties had serious plans for the UK’s transition to green energy and how they would combat the existential threats of famine and mass migration, Browne added.

Ed Miliband, the shadow energy minister, said: “Lord Browne’s intervention adds his voice to the chorus of energy experts, including the International Energy Agency and the Climate Change Committee, who make clear that new oil and gas licences are not the right choice for Britain.

“The only way to boost our energy security, strengthen our economy, protect our climate and ensure long-term, good jobs here in Britain is by managing existing licences while sprinting to develop the clean energy industries of the future.”

The Labour Party has agreed its election manifesto ahead of its official launch next week (Ed Halford writes).

After members of Labour’s shadow cabinet were locked in meetings with leading trade unions and members of Labour’s National Executive Committee, Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, and Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, were seen leaving the “secret” central London venue.

Abdi Duale, a member of the NEC, told BBC News the meeting had been “very positive” and was “quicker than I thought”. It is understood that issues which were set to be discussed included the party’s commitments on labour rights, specifically zero-hour contracts.

A Conservative candidate has withdrawn his nomination to be an MP after he posted inappropriate pictures of teenagers on social media (George Sandeman writes).

Adam Gregg, 43, ran companies that held club nights for adolescents aged 13 to 17 before attempting to stand as the Tory candidate in Spen Valley, West Yorkshire. Among the posts about the club nights he ran nearly two decades ago, Gregg shared a picture of two girls with the words “horny” and “bitch” scrawled on their chests.

According to the Daily Mirror, another picture showed a girl with a message written on her shirt that read, “If you want me boys come”.

Gregg withdrew his candidacy today and said he apologised if anyone felt the club nights were inappropriate. “These events were of their time and I can understand how they could be viewed differently in today’s world,” he said. “I have withdrawn my candidacy from the general election to ensure this matter doesn’t in any way detract from the party’s efforts to win the Spen Valley seat.”

Count Binface is to stand against Rishi Sunak in his North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond at the general election (George Sandeman writes).

The self-styled “independent space warrior” ran in the London mayoral election in May, earning 24,260 votes and beating the far-right party Britain First.

One of his policies was to make managers at Thames Water take a swim in the river.

Sadiq Khan, who won with more than one million votes, said in his victory remarks: “It would be nice to take a moment to celebrate becoming the first person in British political history to win successive victories over Count Binface. Believe me, he made me work hard for it.”

The satirical candidate is the work of comedian Jon Harvey and he first stood for election to Westminster in 2019 when he challenged Boris Johnson in Uxbridge & South Ruislip. He won 69 votes.

• Loony party is a joke decades past its sell-by date

The former head of the Royal Navy has said it was “stupid” of Rishi Sunak not to attend yesterday’s international ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day (George Sandeman writes).

Lord West of Spithead, a retired admiral and former security adviser to Labour, said: “I would have thought he’d have been desperate to be involved in such a major, major event of such significance to so many millions of people across the United Kingdom, let alone around the world. I find it very strange that he should do such an own goal.”

When it was put to him that the prime minister had attended an earlier British event, he told The World at One on Radio 4: “I still think it was a stupid thing not to be there.

“When you’ve got people like the president of the United States, the president of France, Zelensky and others all there, and the one person who is not there is the political head of the United Kingdom, I think it comes over very badly.”

He added that Downing Street advisers should have intervened and told the prime minister to stay for the international ceremony and described the affair as “a cock-up”.

The former cabinet minister Sir David Davis said that veterans who were angered by Rishi Sunak leaving the D-Day commemorations early would “want to move on” (Ed Halford writes).

Speaking to Times Radio, Davis said he “understood why people were annoyed” but nonetheless thought the “main event” was “honouring the veterans” rather than “rubbing shoulders with international leaders”.

He pinned the blame for the slip up on Sunak’s advisers. “Somebody got his diary wrong bluntly and you know I wouldn’t want to be receiving any of that conversation,” he said.

“Maybe he should have seen it … he missed it but he’s recognised he made a mistake,” the former Brexit secretary added.

A senior adviser to the Conservatives has quit the party over what he called Rishi Sunak’s “cynical” decision to depart early from the D-Day commemorations yesterday.

Ian Acheson, who has advised Michael Gove on extremism issues, said on Twitter/X: “This won’t matter to anyone except me. But I need to say it anyway. Here is the reason I’ve resigned from the Conservatives today. Country before party. Always.”

Accompanying his social media post was a picture of an elderly man standing on a beach looking down at the sea lapping at his feet. Acheson’s uncle fought in the Second World War as a “Desert Rat”.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Acheson said in his resignation letter: “[Leaving] was an act of either colossal stupidity or cynical calculation.

“Either way, it revealed to me that while I still embrace a conservative philosophy, I am no longer willing to have it outsourced to a bunch of mendacious, incompetent and disreputable clowns.”

Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, has accused Rishi Sunak of making a “false claim” about his progress tackling small boat crossings.

Reacting to the news that 316 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Thursday, Kinnock said: “Under Rishi Sunak and the Tories, the number of small boat crossings in the Channel just keeps on going up, now passing 11,000 this year, a record high.”

Kinnock said Sunak was trying to “pull the wool over voters’ eyes” and promised that Labour would create a Border Security Command that would help “smash the criminal smuggling gangs”.

The Labour Party has also committed to ending the housing of asylum seekers in hotels and it would work towards negotiating a new agreement with France to include safe returns for child refugees.

Voters in Penny Mordaunt’s Portsmouth constituency of Portsmouth said that Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day events early was “disgusting”. They said the prime minister’s departure could cost Mordaunt, who appears in tonight’s BBC debate, her Portsmouth North seat. The city has a long-established association with the Royal Navy.

Some have said that they would defect to Reform UK. Speaking today in Cosham, Portsmouth, John Hammond, 71, a semi-retired music teacher, revealed that following the D-Day debacle he would not be voting Conservative and would likely be defecting to Reform UK.

“It’s not good but he’s going to lose anyway,” he said of Sunak. “If Penny was leader I would vote for her. But I quite like Nigel Farage, he’s one of the bigger statesmen of our time.”

Another stalwart Conservative voter in Mordaunt’s seat, Paul Williams, 71, said he would not be voting for the party on July 4 for the first time. On Sunak, Williams, who served in the Royal Navy for 22 years, said: “I think it’s absolutely disgusting. It’s such a huge event and he just up and went.

“So many royal family members, heads of state and he just decided to pack up and go. The election is small stuff compared to the celebration of 80 years of people who virtually saved the world. We all owe those people.”

While the Conservatives continue their £2,000 tax attack on Sir Keir Starmer, Labour continue to reiterate their claim that the prime minister lied to the public.

Asked about the leaders’ debate on Tuesday, Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, told Sky News: “Now the dust has settled a lot of people are shocked at the extent to which Rishi Sunak was prepared to lie in that debate.

“The extent to which he tried to give the impression that the bogus calculations he offered were endorsed by impartial civil servants has now been exposed that that was not the case. It makes you wonder if Sunak was prepared to lie in such a bare-faced way to the British public, what else is he prepared to lie about?”

The shadow children’s minister has described the minister for children as “out of touch” for not knowing how much the child allowance is (Seren Hughes writes).

Helen Hayes said: “Millions of families across the country rely on child benefit to make ends meet. It is astounding that the Conservative minister is so out of touch he does not understand how important child benefit is or what the current rates are.

“On July 4, the choice is clear — a reckless and out-of-touch Tory government, who aren’t even across the details of their own policies, or a Labour Party who can deliver the change Britain needs putting stability and families at the heart of our plans.”

The Conservatives have “a clear plan to protect our countryside”, a party spokesperson has said.

Responding to Labour’s Countryside Protection Plan, which includes the creation of nine national river walks, three new national forests, and a new community right to buy to turn derelict land into new parks and green spaces, the spokesperson said: “Labour have no new ideas or substance on how they will actually tackle nature loss, while the Conservatives have a clear plan to protect our countryside.

“We will protect 30 per cent of the UK’s land by 2030, and build on our record of creating of 100 marine protected areas, new habitats the size of Dorset, and requiring new developments to have at least 10 per cent more biodiversity.

“We are sticking to the plan to restore and improve nature, protect our countryside, and conserve our oceans for generations to come.”

Holly Valance, the former pop star, could stand against Richard Holden, the Conservative Party chairman, in the Basildon & Billericay seat (Ed Halford writes).

Valance is in talks with Reform UK and her friends have reportedly told GB News that she has to decide by 4pm today.

The Australian-born singer is married to the property millionaire Nick Candy and they were both seen at a Popular Conservatism rally in February.

She told GB News on Monday that she was willing to help Reform’s Nigel Farage by knocking on doors “if asked”.

Holden has been under fire from local Conservative members in Basildon and Billericay as they are upset that his candidacy was imposed on them and his lack of local connection to the area.

All parties must submit their nominations for the election by 4pm today.

For Labour, today’s campaigning focus is housing and Sir Keir Starmer has hailed his party’s plan to help prospective homeowners who struggle to save for a large deposit as “a game-changer” (Seren Hughes writes).

Starmer and Angela Rayner visited the Brent Cross Town housing development, where Starmer said the announcement was “really important” as young people on a decent wage are paying very high rents and cannot afford to save for a deposit.

The Labour leader also promised to build more social homes, saying his government “will make sure that we hit that stretch target of 1.5 million houses”.

This afternoon, Labour is holding a meeting to finalise its election manifesto ahead of its launch next week.

A government led by Sir Keir Starmer will result in “significant cuts” to public spending, John Swinney, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, has claimed (Ed Halford writes).

Speaking at a campaign rally, Swinney warned that voting in Labour would “deliver Tory spending cuts”.

Labour has “signed itself up to a Conservative outlook on public expenditure which is going to do significant damage to the public services of our country”, Swinney warned.

Swinney argued the Labour Party was “so terrified of scaring off Tory voters in England” that they had chosen to adopt the “same approach to public policy”.

He claimed “progressive taxation” in Scotland had led to an “extra £1.5 billion for public services.”

While campaigning today has been overshadowed by the row over Rishi Sunak’s absence from a D-Day event, it has still been going on.

The prime minister was at a nursery in Swindon to promote the Conservative’s pledge to extend child benefit to higher earners, raising the threshold to £120,000 for a household rather than for an individual.

He met staff and Justin Tomlinson, the Conservative candidate for Swindon North, and joined the children digging in a sandbox, potting flowers and playing with water.

A D-Day veteran said the prime minister has “let down the country” (Seren Hughes writes).

Ken Hay told Sky News: “He’s electioneering. I think it lets down the country. It’s not the representation of how we should weld together, trying to keep the peace.”

Other veterans told LBC that Rishi Sunak’s move was “disgusting”, “outrageous” and “disrespectful”.

One ex-serviceman, whose grandfathers were both involved in action on D-Day, said: “My outrage is not faux.”

His words were a response to Johnny Mercer calling out “the faux outrage from people who’ve done nothing but make my life difficult trying to improve veterans’ affairs over the years”.

One veteran said he had “lost all faith” in Rishi Sunak, while another added that the veterans who were at the service “must feel let a bit down”.

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the foreign secretary, has heaped praise on Rishi Sunak for acknowledging his mistake in returning early from the D-Day events (Ed Halford writes).

Speaking in Oxfordshire, Cameron said: “It is a credit to him that he has been so frank about it.”

“I think it is a tribute to the way he is that he thought on reflection he wished he had stayed in France and instead of digging in and defending himself he just came straight out and said on reflection I wish I had stayed longer,” he added.

Cameron highlighted that Sunak had “a long-standing plan to return” and said it was therefore “not surprising” that he returned in the middle of an election campaign.

Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at the Labour Party’s meeting to finalise its election manifesto before its launch next week (Seren Hughes writes).

The Labour leader went in through a back entrance at the central London location where the so-called Clause V meeting is taking place.

The shadow cabinet ministers Yvette Cooper, Steve Reed, Liz Kendall and Hilary Benn were seen entering the Clause V meeting earlier today.

Rishi Sunak is “not very strong” at the symbols of political leadership and the D-Day row helps Nigel Farage, Danny Finkelstein has said (Seren Hughes writes).

The Tory peer told Times Radio the D-Day row is “certainly not helpful” but added: “The truth of it is Rishi Sunak is not very strong at the symbols of political leadership, and this is an illustration of that, and symbols of political leadership are important.”

Finkelstein continued: “It’s so much easier to spot a miscalculation after you’ve made it and someone’s pointed it out than it is in advance, and I know that from experience. I’m deeply sympathetic to those people who were involved in the decision but it was a mistake.”

However, he said the “big problem for the country” and the Conservatives is Nigel Farage, “and this could not be better calculated but to increase his core support as well”.

Nigel Farage, Reform UK’s new leader, is making hay from Sunak’s failure to attend the main event at Omaha Beach yesterday. In an interview with Sky News, he says that Sunak is not a “patriotic leader of the Conservative Party” and that the decision “says a lot about him”.

The Liberal Democrats joined in the criticism and have called on Sunak to donate the £5 million given to the Conservatives by Frank Hester to a veterans charity.

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, has written to Grant Shapps, his counterpart, saying that the prime minister’s decision on D-Day events raises “worrying questions about both his judgment and his priorities”.

Healey wrote that many people felt “betrayed” and that he was making the letter public “given the clear national interest and concern”.

He asked about when the decision was made, who suggested it was not the best use of the prime minister’s time, and whether Rishi Sunak recorded a television interview while D-Day events were ongoing.

His final question was: “Given that the prime minister has been campaigning on the idea young people should complete a year’s national service, what does it say that he appears to have been unable to complete a single afternoon of it?”

Rishi Sunak pointed to his record on supporting the armed forces and veterans when it was put to him that his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early showed a disdain for the military.

He said: “I think people can judge me by my actions when it comes to supporting the Armed Forces. In this campaign, it’s the Conservative Party led by me which is increasing the amount of investment that we’re putting into our Armed Forces to 2.5 per cent of GDP. That’s not something that’s been matched by the Labour Party.

“So there is a clear choice about backing our armed forces. And it’s also me as prime minister that’s made sure we have the first ever dedicated veterans minister in cabinet with a dedicated Office of Veterans’ Affairs.”

Rishi Sunak has said that the D-Day events should not be politicised and reiterated that it was a mistake to miss the international commemorative event.

Speaking to broadcasters on a campaign visit to Wiltshire, the prime minister said he participated in a number of events in Portsmouth and France over the past two days.

The itinerary was set weeks ago before the start of the election campaign, he said, adding: “Having participated in all the British events with British veterans, I returned home before the international leaders’ event later in the day. On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise.”

He continued: “I think it’s important, though, given the enormity of the sacrifice made, that we don’t politicise this. The focus should rightly be on the veterans who gave so much.”

The Lib Dems have called on Rishi Sunak to donate the latest £5 million received by the party from Frank Hester to a veterans charity as an apology for his absence at the international D-Day event yesterday.

The Lib Dem defence spokesperson and veteran Richard Foord said: “The prime minister has badly let down veterans and our country. He disrespected his office and the United Kingdom.

“Yesterday it emerged that the Conservative Party accepted another £5m from Frank Hester, a man who has made the most appalling racist and misogynistic comments.

“Rishi Sunak must personally ensure this money is donated instead to a veterans’ charity as an apology for his absence yesterday. It’s the least that our veterans and service personnel deserve.”

Sir Keir Starmer has used Rishi Sunak’s decision on the D-Day event yesterday to set a dividing line between the two party leaders on character (Seren Hughes writes).

He told reporters that this election “is about character” and said “there was only one place I was going to be”.

“Politics is about the choices you make,” he continued. “I made a choice yesterday about what I would do as leader of the Labour Party and as a candidate to be prime minister and I knew I should be there. This was not a discussion. It was my duty to be there, it was my privilege to be there.”

Rishi Sunk has just said it is “simply not right“ to suggest he considered missing D-Day commemoration events altogether (Seren Hughes writes).

A No 10 spokesman said: “The PM was always scheduled to attend D-Day commemorations, including the UK national commemoration event in Normandy, and it is incorrect to suggest otherwise.”

Recognition of Palestinian statehood as part of any peace process in the Middle East will be included as a commitment in the Labour manifesto, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed.

Speaking to the BBC during a visit in London, the Labour leader said: “That needs to be part of the process, it’s very important we have a viable Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.”

He added: “It is an inalienable right of the Palestinians, it’s not in the gift of Israel, so it has to be part of the peace process.”

Asked whether this will be in the manifesto, he said: “It will be.”

Sir Keir Starmer took the opportunity at the international D-Day ceremony yesterday to tell Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, that there would be “no change in our support” for Kyiv under a Labour government, he told broadcasters (Seren Hughes writes).

He also told ITV that he was “surprised” by Rishi Sunak’s decision not to be there, adding: “This is the 80-year anniversary of an operation by brave young women and men not much older than my son who ran up those beaches on D-Day under gunfire, scared but brave, and to just contemplate that I found humbling.

“For me there was only one choice, which was to be there.”

Leading Labour figures are gathering for a meeting to finalise the party’s election manifesto (Seren Hughes writes).

Among those who have been seen entering the Clause V meeting in London are the shadow cabinet ministers Yvette Cooper, Steve Reed, Liz Kendall and Hilary Benn.

The BBC’s party leader interviews are to start on Monday with Rishi Sunak, but a date for Sir Keir Starmer is yet to be agreed (Alex Farber writes).

The Today programme presenter Nick Robinson will sit down with the political leaders in a series of 30-minute interviews for BBC1 and iPlayer.

The prime minister will be the first to appear, on Monday at 8pm, with Reform’s Nigel Farage handed a post-news 10.40pm slot the following day.

Starmer has been invited to be interviewed but no time has yet been agreed.

Wednesday will feature the SNP’s John Swinney on BBC1 and BBC Scotland at 7pm, with Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth appearing simultaneously on BBC1 Wales.

The following Tuesday June 18, the Greens’ Adrian Ramsay will occupy a 10.40pm slot, before the Liberal Democrat’s Sir Ed Davey appears on Friday 28 June at 8.30pm.

Sir Keir Starmer agreed there was a “mismatch” between Rishi Sunak’s proposal to require 18-year-olds to do national service and his decision to leave the D-Day commemorations early (Seren Hughes writes).

He said: “I think he’s going to have to answer for the choices that he made.”

The chair of the Labour Party has issued a press release with a letter written to Conservative candidates telling them that they are “personally reliant on the money of someone with a proven record of racist remarks” (Seren Hughes writes).

In a letter in response to reports that the Tories accepted another donation from Frank Hester and of further allegations about him, Anneliese Dodds wrote: “In Rishi Sunak’s desperation to hold onto power, he has launched you into a general election campaign where over half of every £1 you spend on campaigning, £0.50p is paid for by Frank Hester.”

If the Conservatives will not return the money from Hester, Dodds asked the candidates: “Will you do the right thing and stand up to them?”

She continued: “If not, every leaflet you fold and every social media advert you post makes you personally reliant on the money of someone with a proven record of racist remarks.”

Hester and the Conservative Party have been approved for comment.

Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister “will have to answer for his own choices”, when asked about Rishi Sunak’s decision to return early from D-Day events in Normandy (Seren Hughes writes).

“For me the only choice was to be there,” he told broadcasters.

“For me it was really important to be there for the whole day, paying my respects.”

The veterans minister has said he understands the “outrage” caused by Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early (Chris Smyth writes).

Johnny Mercer said the prime minister’s team “could have seen this one coming” and acknowledged he had not been happy with the decision.

“I get the outrage. It’s a mistake. It’s a significant mistake for which he’s apologised,” Mercer told The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots.

“Obviously you can imagine how I felt, right, as the veterans minister when this happened.”

Mercer is Britain’s first dedicated cabinet minister for veterans. He insisted Sunak “has done more on veterans’ affairs in this country than any of his predecessors”.

He said: “I’ve spoken to the prime minister this morning and obviously it’s disappointing, but I do find the faux outrage from people who’ve done nothing but make my life difficult trying to improve veterans’ affairs over the years is pretty nauseating, to be frank.”

Rishi Sunak has “ill-served” the memory of those who lost their lives, an SNP cabinet secretary has said.

Neil Gray, whose grandfather was a royal engineer and served on D-Day, said: “The prime minister, in choosing to leave that commemoration early, has ill-served his memory and the memory of so many others who lost their lives and who did come home but now have been served by a prime minister who put a TV interview before their memory.”

He said the prime minister’s decision is “utterly appalling and disgusting” and believes the offence caused to veterans “will be great”.

A Labour government would create nine national river walks across England, the party has promised as it unveiled its plans for nature (Adam Vaughan writes).

The walking routes will be modelled on the coastal path, with government officials turning to the river walks to establish rights of way.

The new measure is one of several in a Countryside Protection Plan announced today. There will be three new national forests created in England in addition to the existing one, plus the party will end the government’s practice of giving emergency authorisation to a bee-killing pesticide.

Local people will also be given a new “community right to buy” to turn derelict land into new parks and green spaces, while Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, would chair a new tree-planting task force.

“Labour are the conservers, not the Conservatives,” said Reed.

The Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said the prime minister had been right to apologise for leaving the D-Day commemorations (Seren Hughes writes).

Ross told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme that Rishi Sunak had “looked at that and reflected”.

He said: “It was a crucial moment in our history and it is right it is recognised fully and properly, and that is why it is also correct the prime minister has apologised.”

Rishi Sunak thinks he’s “the cleverest most important man in any room”, Jess Phillips said.

In a post on X/Twitter, the former shadow minister for domestic violence said: “His decision yesterday was made on that basis. He thought what he had to do was more important, he always thinks he is more important. Dripping not just in rain but also in privilege.

“He shouldn’t have been concerned with how it looked, he should have just known that it would be an actual insult to actual people who on this day matter more than him.”

Rishi Sunak was not the only European leader who had to juggle intense election campaigning and D-Day commemorations (Max Kendix writes).

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was accused of “requisitioning” the 80th anniversary of the landings to his advantage ahead of elections to the European parliament, held in France on Sunday.

Opposition parties were furious that Macron could give three addresses to the nation on consecutive days, the last of them on the eve of a campaigning blackout for the election, in which his party is set to perform poorly.

The French president may have learnt a lesson from 2019 — when he was criticised for refusing to attend an international ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Nigel Farage has said Rishi Sunak “could not even be bothered” to attend the international D-Day event (Seren Hughes writes).

The leader of Reform UK contrasted himself with the prime minister in a post on X/Twitter, saying: “I was honoured to help raise £100,000 for the Taxi Charity to send veterans back to Normandy. It was a pleasure to meet them at the various events.

“Rishi Sunak could not even be bothered to attend the international event above Omaha Beach. Who really believes in our people, him or me?”

Rishi Sunak’s absence at D-Day commemorations in France yesterday afternoon is captured best in one image (Max Kendix writes).

From right to left, it shows Joe Biden, the US president, Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president.

Then, in place of the British prime minister, stands Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the foreign secretary.

Sunak was back in the UK, giving an interview to ITV.

Labour would “say so” if the party had plans to raise other taxes, the shadow housing minister said (Seren Hughes writes).

Asked on Times Radio whether Labour was being honest with voters on taxes, Matthew Pennycook insisted that it was.

He reiterated that all tax commitments, such as ending tax loopholes on private school fees, abolishing the non-dom status entirely, or taking action on tax avoidance, will be fully costed and funded.

Pennycook said: “We don’t plan to raise taxes on working people. We’ve ruled out tax increases on income tax, national insurance and VAT. We’ve got no intention to raise other tax rates on households generally.”

An apology by a party leader is rare. An apology by the prime minister during an election campaign, over a deliberate choice to skip a momentous D-Day commemoration with world leaders, is extraordinary (Max Kendix writes).

The date, and the event, were known long in advance. Both parties acknowledged that the 80th anniversary of the landings required taking two days out of the campaign diary. Sir Keir Starmer was there and met with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, on the sidelines.

Instead, Sunak returned to take part in an interview with ITV, which will not be released in full until next week, and his absence in images of world leaders is striking.

Sunak’s apology will have been intended to stem the flow of backlash, but it is unlikely to be enough. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is on primetime television tonight in the BBC debate.

He will surely claim that the prime minister disrespected veterans — a charge that will not sit lightly with the very voters Sunak has spent months trying to convince not to abandon the Conservative party.

The shadow housing minister would not confirm reports that Labour’s manifesto would include Sir Keir Starmer’s strongest commitment to Palestinian statehood since the Gaza conflict began (Seren Hughes writes).

Asked about the reports on Times Radio, Matthew Pennycook said: “All the announcements about the manifesto are speculative.”

He added that the party’s position on a Palestinian state “has been settled” and “remains unchanged”.

That position is “to work in conjunction with international partners on the recognition of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, alongside a safe and secure Israel, as part of a process towards a negotiated two-state solution”, he said.

Rishi Sunak is been accused of “not getting what it is to be a prime minister” after skipping a major international D-Day ceremony, a former Downing Street communications chief has said (Seren Hughes writes).

Sir Craig Oliver told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that when planning these things you have to note that it is an important moment for the country and to show that you are being prime ministerial.

“And the problem for Rishi Sunak this morning is he’s accused of not getting what it is to be a prime minister and what his duties are as a prime minister,” he said.

Oliver added that it was “pretty clear that the Conservative campaign was going to be massively on the back foot today” and criticised the campaign for sending David Johnston on the broadcast round without knowing “what to say” about the snub.

Rishi Sunak has been criticised by Philip Ingram, a former army colonel, who said: “I think it was hugely disrespectful to those who sacrificed everything so our democracy could survive and a clear demonstration of poor judgement and confused priorities (Larisa Brown writes).

“He let our veterans down, he let His Majesty down, he let the country down and he let himself down.”

Matthew Pennycook, the shadow housing minister, said Rishi Sunak leaving D-Day commemorations early suggests the prime minister is “desperate and running a chaotic campaign” (Seren Hughes writes).

He told Times Radio: “I think it is suggestive of a prime minister that is desperate and is running a chaotic campaign.”

He added: “I mean, bear in mind, this is probably the last service potentially for many of those veterans who attended.”

Jonathan Ashworth, the Labour shadow minister, said the prime minister’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early showed “dreadful judgment” (Max Kendix writes).

He said: “In choosing to prioritise his own vanity TV appearances over our veterans, Rishi Sunak has shown what is most important to him.

“It is yet more desperation, yet more chaos, and yet more dreadful judgement from this out-of-touch prime minister.”

The minister for children has said he does not know how much the child allowance is (Max Kendix writes).

David Johnston, the Conservative undersecretary of state for children, families and wellbeing, was asked how much parents receive as a benefit for bringing up a child.

Johnston told LBC: “We don’t run the benefits, I’m afraid. I should have found out before I came on here. I’m sorry I don’t know the amounts.”

The amounts are £25.60 per week for the first child and £16.95 for each additional child.

Currently, it is withdrawn when one member of a household earns more than £60,000 a year, and withdrawn entirely if someone earns £80,000.

The Tories have pledged to overhaul the system so that the threshold is £120,000 for a household, rather than for an individual.

Matthew Pennycook, the shadow housing minister, has said Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early is “embarrassing” and a “shameful dereliction of duty” (Seren Hughes writes).

“I’m glad he has apologised because it is absolutely a mistake,” he told Sky News.

“It’s the reason why he left those services, he left to pre-record an interview where he doubled down on a proven lie about the Labour Party’s intentions if it forms the next government.

“The British public should ask themselves serious questions about a man who decides to make that decision in the first place.”

Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will return to the campaign trail today.

The prime minister will be campaigning in the southwest of England later this morning, while the Labour leader is joining Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, at a housing development in London.

Labour will finalise its manifesto at a “Clause V” meeting expected to take place at noon.

John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland and the SNP leader, will make a campaign speech in Glasgow.

Leading figures from the seven biggest political parties, including Rayner, Reform’s Nigel Farage and the Conservatives’ Penny Mordaunt will join a debate on the BBC at 7:30pm.

Tim Montgomerie, a Conservative commentator, said it was “political malpractice of the highest order” if Rishi Sunak did skip a D-Day ceremony for an election TV interview (Seren Hughes writes).

He told the BBC’s Newsnight last night: “It is extraordinary of the prime minister at a time when the King has advanced his medical treatment so he was there. This is going to be the last big commemoration where survivors will be present.

“I think it’s political malpractice of the highest order if Rishi Sunak absented himself for an election interview.”

He added: “It’s not dignified, it’s not the right thing to do at a fundamental level.”

Rishi Sunak has apologised for returning to the UK early and missing the international D-Day commemorative event (Seren Hughes writes).

In a post on X/Twitter, the prime minister said: “After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer — and I apologise.”

He said the last thing he wanted was for the commemorations to be “overshadowed by politics” and insisted that he “cares deeply about veterans”.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has accused Rishi Sunak of a “total dereliction of duty” after leaving D-Day commemorations early to campaign in the election, saying the prime minister “brought shame” to his office (Max Kendix writes).

Sir Ed Davey said: “One of the greatest privileges of the office of prime minister is to be there to honour those who served, yet Rishi Sunak abandoned them on the beaches of Normandy. He has brought shame to that office and let down our country.

“I am thinking right now of all those veterans and their families he left behind and the hurt they must be feeling. It is a total dereliction of duty and shows why this Conservative government just has to go.”

A Tory peer has said Rishi Sunak made a “mistake” by skipping a D-Day ceremony with world leaders in France to attend a political TV interview (Max Kendix writes).

The prime minister scheduled an interview with ITV yesterday afternoon while Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the foreign secretary, took his place at the ceremony.

Lord Bailey of Paddington, the Conservative candidate in the London mayoral election in 2021, told GB News: “I think it was a mistake to leave … There’s two ways to look at this. You are in the middle of a campaign, you want to make a big impact. The best impact you can make at this point is being seen on the world stage with the biggest leaders in the world.

“That is probably the way to go. On top of that, you have possibly the biggest event in the last hundred years that they are celebrating, you should be there. It sends a message.”

A government minister has said he does not “accept” that Rishi Sunak left D-Day commemorations early to carry out a broadcast interview (Max Kendix writes).

David Johnston, the children’s minister, told Times Radio: “It is clear that the prime minister has spent a week paying his respects on behalf of the country.

“The prime minister has been at several commemorations this week. This government has done more than any government to support our veterans.”

When it was put to Johnston that Sunak left early, the minister said: “I don’t accept that.”

First-time buyers who struggle to save enough money for large deposits will be able to use the government as a guarantor on their mortgages under a plan unveiled by Labour.

The party pledged that its successor to the mortgage guarantee scheme, which is due to expire next year, would be more comprehensive.

Under present rules lenders are able to purchase a guarantee on part of a mortgage which means the government will compensate them for some of their losses should the lender repossess a property.

Labour said their scheme would see the “state acting as guarantor for prospective homeowners who struggle to save for a large deposit” and that it would be a permanent product.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “My Labour government will help first-time buyers onto the ladder with a new Freedom to Buy scheme for those without a large deposit, and by giving them first dibs on new developments.”

Households with six-figure incomes will be able to keep more of their child benefits under a pledge by the Conservatives.

Under present rules parents start to lose their benefit when they earn more than £60,000. The proposal would see the threshold rise to £120,000 and apply it to households rather than individual earners.

The Tories said the move would “end the unfairness that means single-earner households can start paying the tax charge when a household with two working parents and a much higher total income can keep the child benefit in full”.

Read more: Rishi Sunak ‘will extend child benefit to wealthier families’

Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner will lock horns in a televised debate on behalf of Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer this evening where they will be joined by politicians from five other parties.

Nigel Farage, ensconced this week in his new role as party leader, will represent Reform, while Daisy Cooper and Stephen Flynn appear for the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party.

Carla Denyer is representing the Greens, who are hoping to win a second seat in Westminster by taking Bristol Central from Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow culture secretary.

Rhun ap Iorwerth represents Plaid Cymru in the debate, which will be broadcast on BBC1 at 7.30pm and last 90 minutes. It will be moderated by the Today presenter Mishal Hussian.